Material moving systems, such as those utilized with chain assemblies are used in industry. Due to assembly and service requirements, most, if not all, drive/conveyor chain assemblies employ some form of a connecting link that permits the chain assembly to be removed/installed without needing to break the rivet joints that hold the links of the chain assembly together.
In order to allow the connector link to be removed easily, the connector link generally incorporates a “loose fit” between the sidebar or chain link and the pins of the connector link. The tensile loads the chain assemblies experience during normal usage, such as those employed on combine harvesters, causes the pins and sidebars in the chain assembly to flex. The additional clearance resulting from the loose fit of the connector link components allows the pin and sidebars of the connector link to flex a greater amount than the other components of the chain assembly, resulting in greater amounts of wear and significantly less service life than the other components in the chain assembly. To reduce clearances, connector links may use a variety of containment devices, such as pins, wires, snap rings, etc.
Due to the cyclic loading and interaction with crop flow that the containment devices are subjected to, proper assembly of containment devices is important. One type of containment device is a single-use containment device. That is, the containment device is subjected to a single installation, then discarding the original containment device in exchange for another containment device when a subsequent removal/installation is required. However, the “single use” practice may not be followed when the containment device is capable of being reused. In addition, even where containment devices that could be properly installed multiple times are used, proper assembly may not be reliably determined.
Accordingly, what is sought is a material moving system that results in damage to the containment device during installation/removal, substantially limiting reuse of the containment device and provides for reliably determining when a proper installation of the containment device has occurred.